This past Thursday, June 2, 2010, a tractor-trailer driven by Jay L. Valentine of Texas, caused what is being reported as a 9-car pileup.  The collision happened in Herculaneum, MO on northbound I-55 near McNutt Road.  The most recent reports are that two individuals have unfortunately been killed – a 52-year-old man and 28-year-old woman, both from Festus.  Out of respect to the families, the names of those killed are currently being withheld.  Additionally, several others were severely injured in the wreck and taken to area hospitals. 

As a Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer, things currently appear to progressing as planned.  The Missouri Highway Patrol will conduct its accident reconstruction in which they will determine the cause of this wreck (besides the obvious).  Currently, the only statement released from the truck driver is from Corporal Jeff Wilson who said the truck driver stated “He said he looked over to his right for some reason, and looked back, and traffic had slowed.”  No charges have yet to be filed against Mr. Valentine, the truck driver.   

What I know through my experience that most people don’t realize or think about is that there is a very large and powerful insurance company behind the truck driver and his company.  Moreover, there may be more than one.  As a Missouri Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer, one of the biggest tasks we have in any cases is determining all of the available insurance.  This can include the truck driver’s own policy, the truck company’s policy, excess policies, the shipper’s policy, broker’s policy, etc.  All of these potential insurance companies already have this accident on their radar and I would bet anyone that they are already working hard to limit the amount of money they will have to pay on this accident.  They may even include hiring a criminal lawyer for this truck driver to work with prosecutors and make sure he doesn’t get charged with a crime. 

However, the converse can also be true.  The injured individuals and the families of the deceased can also start working to make sure the insurance company doesn’t get off easy.  Most personal injury lawyers make the mistake of treating a truck accident like any other car accident.  They do not recognize the many difference and the peculiarities.  Quite frankly, those lawyers will not do as good a job.  Rather, an experienced Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer will do the following:

1. Send out a preservation of evidence demand letter (read more about on our Missouri Truck Accident Website)
2. Request an immediate download of the truck’s ECM aka “black-box” (read more about the ECM at on our page about how to maximize a truck accident settlement)
3. Work with the Highway Patrol and Prosecutor’s office to make sure the insurance companies are not exerting undue influence
4. Obtain the Truck Company’s DOT filings
5. Obtain all information regarding the Truck Company’s safety rating

And there are a number of other things that can be done as well.  The fact is that this truck driver has tragically devastated the lives of many people.  And more sadly, I do not believe this was just “an accident”.  While the truck driver surely did not intend to cause this carnage, these things are often the culmination of unsafe drivers, unsafe truck companies, and unsafe practices.  Those things all add up to one big explosion of tragedy.  That may very well be what happened in this case.  However, truck companies and their insurance companies try to hide these facts by surpressing certain facts and offering quick settlements (which are pale in comparison to what they really should pay).  They do this, not because they want to take responsibility, but because they do not want  an expert lawyer subpoenaing devastating documents and evidence that shows the real light of why a crash may happen which may potentially justify punitive damages.  For now, our hearts and prayers go out to the families of everyone who was injured and killed in this tragic accident.

Joshua P. Myers is a Premier Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer.  He is a founding partner of his law firm and also the President of Missouri Injury Law, LLC.  His firm specializes solely in severe and catastrophic injury cases with an emphasis on commercial motor vehicle collisions (Semi-Truck Wrecks) – click here for his Missouri Truck Accident Website.  He is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum – membership is limited to only those top attorneys who have achieved multi-million dollar recoveries in a single case.  Based in St. Louis, MO, his firm handles cases throughout all of Missouri and Illinois.  He can be reached toll-free at 888-956-2487.  It is always free to discuss a potential case and there are never any upfront fees to retain his firm.  Rather, attorney’s fees will be taken as a percentage of the recovery and the firm will also front all case expenses.

As a Missouri car accident lawyer, this is a common question I receive.  Unfortunately, many people come to me months after their wreck, during which time they have been trying to deal with the adjusters themselves.  Adjusters always start out very friendly and will tell you that they will fairly evaluate their case and will do so much quicker than if a lawyer is involved.  Of course, many clients are just seeking what is fair and they think that the insurance company will do the same.  This often results in the adjuster requesting numerous things, including a recorded statement and also medical authorizations.  However, you have absolutely no obligation to give them any of this and it is certainly not true that they must have it before evaluating and offering a settlement for the car accident.  In fact, in virtually all circumstances, I refuse to allow my client to provide a recorded statement and I never give the insurance company unrestricted medical authorizations.  Rather, as my client’s lawyer, I present the story to the insurance company on their behalf and order all records and bills on my own and give that to them as well.  Simply put, insurance companies are in the business of making a profit.  And they make a huge profit and they do not make that by “fairly” evaluating accident claims.  Rather they do it by taking advantage of injury victims.  Thus, in order to level the playing field, we have to keep control of the negotiations, which includes dictating what information they get and when.   Certainly we want to settle the claim as soon as possible so we don’t want to hide anything.  However, we also don’t want to give the insurance companies full authority to go on a baseless fishing expedition to dig up all kinds of unrelated past medical records and make it sound as if your injuries are pre-existing.

Therefore, if you are trying to decide whether or not to give a recorded statement, please note that you are never under any obligation to do so, no matter what the insurance company adjuster tells you.  I always advise that you at least consult with a Missouri car accident lawyer.  If you’ve been injured in a serious car accident and would like to speak with a premier injury lawyer to help determine the value of your Missouri car accident settlement, please feel free to contact Joshua P. Myers at 888.956.2487.  Although based out of St. Louis, Missouri, I routinely handle seriously personal injury cases throughout the entire states of Missouri and Illinois.  There is never any fee to discuss your case.  And if I do represent you, our fees are a percentage of the recovery.  If we do not recover for you, you do not owe anything.

As a Missouri car accident lawyer, I am often astounded by other lawyers who say that they feel they should never meet with the client’s doctors.  I think this is completely bad advice.  I even suggest that when deciding on hiring a Missouri car accident attorney that you ask whether they intend to meet with your doctor.  I am not suggesting that they should meet with your doctor for no reason; however, it should be done before taking your doctor’s deposition.  Often times it is common practice for a lawyer to schedule a deposition of your treating doctor and then meet with them for the first time thirty minutes before the deposition begins.  This is pointless and will often do little to increase the value of your case.  Rather, I suggest that any good Missouri car accident lawyer schedule an appointment with the doctor weeks, if not months in advance of the deposition.  This allows much more time for the doctor and the lawyer to talk about the case and identify any issues which should either be hammered on at depositions or avoided.  It also gives the lawyer time to prepare exhibits that he/she is going to use during the deposition.

Case in point, I actually finished meeting with a treating surgeon this morning in a client’s car accident case.  The client suffered a severely broken leg which he repaired surgically.  Often times, I never know before meeting with a doctor he/she will say that my client was totally healed and if there are any continuing complaints, it must be because the client is a faker.  Believe it or not, there are plenty of doctors out there like this.  However, today the doctor was very open in sitting down and talking to me to explain how these injuries may cause problems and early arthritis years down the road.  He additionally explained how we could better detect this by getting my client in for another x-ray, even though her symptoms have mostly subsided for the time being.  These are great suggestions that I would not have followed through on had it not been on the doctor’s advice.  Additionally, if I was just meeting with the doctor fifteen or thirty minutes before the deposition began, we would have never had time to do any of these things.  On the other hand, it’s just as equally important to meet with your treating doctor plenty of time in advance to find out if they hold some type of bias against car accident victims or any type of litigation process.  Several years ago, I was involved when a client was hospitalized six days after her car wreck.  Following that, she essentially had continuing back pain over the next two years.  Even though she never had a day of back pain before the wreck, when I met with her treating doctor, he later told me he could not say that the wreck was the cause of all the pain because he did not know her beforehand.  This was an absolutely ridiculous position and I later found out that the doctor had been sued several times in the past for medical malpractice.  Obviously this was a guy who was completely jaded against the system and had ill feelings on anyone who filed a lawsuit.  Again, if I was just finding out these opinions fifteen minutes before the deposition began, I would have been in for a world of hurt.

Thus, when deciding who may be the right Missouri car wreck attorney for you, make sure to ask whether they go the extra mile to meet with the doctors well in advance to scheduling the depositions.  If they tell you they will just meet with them shortly before the deposition, run, do not walk, to the door and continue your search.

Joshua P. Myers is a Missouri and Illinois personal injury attorney based in St. Louis, Missouri.  He focuses his practice exclusively on serious injury cases throughout all of Missouri and Illinois.  If you would like to speak with him concerning a potential case or just have questions in general about Missouri car accident settlements, feel free to reach him toll free at 888.956.2487.  It is always free to talk about your case and there are never any fees until he recovers on your behalf.

As a St. Louis, Missouri car accident lawyer, one of the situations I commonly encounter is a client who has been very severely injured due to the negligence of another.  It’s not uncommon for me to handle cases in which there are medical bills in excess of a $100,000.00.  In fact today I received an email from a personal whose medical bills total near $250,000.00.  However, like many others, this individual thought they’d be entitled to recover whatever the jury awarded.  Just because the person responsible for your injuries has insurance, does not mean it is going to cover all of your injuries.  Rather, their insurance is only responsible for compensating up to certain limits.  In Missouri, drivers are only required to carry $25,000.00 of liability coverage.  In Illinois, the requirement is only $20,000.00.  This means even if you have a million dollars in medical bills, it’s quite possible that the defendant’s insurance is only required to pay you the $25,000.00 limit.  Of course, people can purchase liability insurance in any limit they want.  However, what happens all too often is that they purchase very low limits because it is cheaper for them.

So how do you protect yourself from this situation?  The answer is Underinsured Motorist coverage (UIM).  Underinsured Motorist coverage is a type of insurance that you buy when purchasing car insurance.  Its purpose is to further compensate you in the event of an injury when the defendant’s insurance does not fully compensate you.  For instance, let’s take the situation of the person who emailed me today.  He had $250,000.00 in medical bills.  The person who hit him only had $50,000.00 in liability insurance.  This means that after the responsible party’s insurance pays him $50,000.00, he can then turn to his own insurance company and request that he be further compensated under his Underinsured Motorist coverage.  Of course, just like any other type of insurance, Underinsured Motorist coverage comes with certain limits too.  The higher the UIM limit you want, the higher your premium.  However, people are generally shocked at how cheap UIM coverage is.  If you do not have it on your policy now, I highly suggest you add it.  I generally recommend that people carry at least $100,000.00 in UIM coverage.

Of course, just because this is a coverage that you pay for does not mean that your insurance company will roll over and pay it all.  Because a good number of the cases I handle involve severe injuries, this means we often exhaust the policy limits of the responsible driver and are then pursuing Underinsured Motorist claims.  Your insurance will often fight you tooth and nail and it is not uncommon to sue them for the UIM coverage.  What often happens is that they claim your injuries aren’t as severe as you’re alleging and thus they try to pay you the least amount as possible.  In Missouri, there is an underutilized law called Vexatious Refusal to Pay.  In practically all of my Underinsured Motorist cases, I also sue the insurance company for vexatiously refusing the pay the full extent of their policy limits.  This simply means that they have no good reason to deny the claim other than they are trying to save themselves money.

Direct claims against insurance companies such as this, require additional expertise.  It is not like any other car accident case where on just has to prove that the other driver was at fault.  Rather in these cases, we have to delve into insurance industry practices and prove that the insurance company had no good reason for denying the claim.  While this may sound easy to do, the fact is that it takes a very tenacious lawyer.  The reason is that insurance companies notoriously hide all of their claims documents and category refuses to turn them over during discovery. The fact is, if we can’t get our hands on these documents, how can we prove that they were baselessly denying the claim?  It takes an experienced Missouri car accident attorney to understand all the documents which they should be getting and to go fight for them.

Joshua P. Myers is owner and President of Myers Injury Law, LLC.  He focuses his practice exclusively on injury law throughout all of Missouri and Illinois.  Although bases in St. Louis, Missouri, he routinely handles sever injury cases throughout all parts of Missouri and Illinois.  If you would like to speak with him regarding a case, please feel free to call toll free at 888.956.2487.  It is always free to discuss your case and there are never any fees until and unless you recover.

On the early morning of January 5, 2010, a 35-year old Merriam man was tragically killed as a result of a multi-car wreck.  The accident happened on Interstate 635 in Kansas City, Kansas.  Initial reports are that five vehicles were involved.  Apparently the man got out of his car after this wreck when he suddenly saw other cars sliding toward him and he jumped over a viaduct because he believed there was level ground on the other side.  Tragically there was not and he fell to his death below the bridge.  As a Missouri car accident attorney, this story caught my eye as the initial reports were that there have been several other accidents along that same location.  Apparently after this last accident, the Kansas Department of Transportation was called to spread more salt and sand there.  Further, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation was quoted as saying that they are aware that the bridge becomes slick and this is partly because of snow falling off of tractor trailers and then freezing due to the extreme cold.  Thus, I have to wonder if the Department of Transportation, with this knowledge, was negligent in not getting out there sooner to spread sand and salt.  Obviously, when temperatures drop and snow falls, the roads are going to get slick and there’s only so much we can do about it.  However, that still does not relieve the responsible parties of their duties to take as much care as they can.  If they had the knowledge of how dangerous this bridge can become when it freezes, then I think it depends on how quickly they reacted to get salt and sand out there.  It is not reported at this time whether this man’s family is pursuing any legal action against not only the drivers responsible for causing the wreck, but also the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Joshua P. Myers is a Missouri car accident lawyer handling serious injury and wrongful death cases throughout the Midwest.  He can be reached toll free at 888.956.2487.  It’s always free to discuss a potential case and there are never any fees unless and until we collect on your behalf.

Seven Canton, Missouri residents were injured this past Sunday in a one car accident.  The car accident occurred in Scotland County, Missouri at approximately 5:55 p.m.  The crash occurred on U.S. Highway 136 in a Mountaineer driven by Tamra Roberts.  The Missouri Highway Patrol is reporting that the crash occurred Roberts lost control of her vehicle after trying to avoid an oncoming vehicle that crossed the center line.

Also involved in the crash were passengers Samantha Roberts, 12, Chris Irvin, 37,  Austin Irvin, 16,  Autumn Irvin, 14;, Bronson Irvin, 9, and Haley Roberts, 10.

Certainly we are keeping our fingers crossed for those involved and wish them speedy recoveries.  But this story caught my eye because I wanted to use it to discuss what happens when a Missouri car accident is caused by an unknown driver.  As a Missouri car accident attorney, one of my most important jobs is finding the appropriate insurance coverage.  In this case, it appears that the identity of the driver who cause this wreck is unknown.  What happens in this case is that everyone injured can make an uninsured motorist claim.  Missouri Statute 379.203 requires every car insurance policy issued in Missouri to provide a minimum of $25,000 of uninsured motorist coverage.  When you do not know the identity of the driver who caused your injuries, or the responsible driver does not have insurance, you are entitled to make a claim against your uninsured motorist coverage.  This is a claim made against your own car insurance company.  As a several of those injured in this car wreck were minors, they would be insured by their parents insurance policies.  Finally, all of the occupants of Mountaineer would also be insured by the car owner’s policy.

When your own car insurance company fails to promptly pay your claim, we often file an additional case against them for vexatious refusal to pay.  When you promptly pay your monthly premiums, we expect your insurance company to treat you fairly when you need to make a claim against that coverage which you pay for.  When they try to jerk us around, we do our best to hold their feet to the fire.

Joshua P. Myers is President of Myers Injury Law.  He is a Missouri Car Accident Lawyer and focuses his practice exclusively on injury law such as car wreck cases.  If you have been injured in a car accident and would like to speak with Car Accident Lawyer Joshua P. Myers, feel free to call at 888.956.2487.  It’s always free to talk about your case and there are never any attorney’s fees until and unless we recover on your behalf.